It’s the afternoon, and you deserve a break. Sit back, pour yourself a glass, and enjoy these food stories from around the Internet.

The Links

Mushrooms! They’re delicious, but how much do you really know about them? Episode One of a new web series, How Does it Grow?, explores the fungus from the ground—or tree trunk—up. Betcha don’t know the difference between spores and gills. [How Does it Grow?]

In an interview with Eater at SXSW this weekend, actor Jon Favreau talked about the pressure to “get it right” in his new movie, Chef. Apparently real-life chef types threatened to lay the smackdown if the movie depicted restaurant chefs as Belle in Beauty and the Beast, “dancing through the farmers’ market.” Favreau also addresses the important need for chocolate lava cake to be phased out of restaurant menus (but why he is still totally down to eat it, anyway). [Eater]

Attention, history buffs and food nerds: Archduke Franz Ferdinand’s assassin, Gavrilo Princip, got his lucky shot that fateful day in 1914 only because the Archduke’s driver stopped his car momentarily outside the store where Princip had just bought a sandwich. Did a sandwich start World War I? And, more importantly, what kind of sandwich was it? [NPR]

Fancy your roast chicken with a side of verbal abuse? Los Angeles restaurant Wong Kei is known for promising a dining experience that comes with, according to writer Jon Kelly, being “cajoled, bullied, insulted and mocked by waiting staff.” Is a harsh dining experience a deal breaker? Chef Marco Pierre White didn’t think so, having kicked out an alleged 54 diners in one night for having the audacity to ask for salt and pepper. Regarding other famous meanie-pants chefs, may we state a fondness for this fellow? [LA Times]

Great news! The yoga mat material you’ve been eating isn’t so bad, after all! Although azodicarbonamide, the chemical found in rubber material and processed bread (including that from Subway restaurants) breaks down into potentially harmful compounds, it’s apparently a) safe in ultra-small amounts and b) “quickly metabolized and excreted.” Meatball subs for everyone! [Grub Street]

Gulp: Do chefs really hate food writers? According to Josh Ozersky they sure do…and they have nine good reasons to prove it. Ozersky cites their fickleness and “worthless opinions,” as well as the fact that they are dumb and phonies, as ammunition enough to toss hate daggers their way. If anyone needs us, we’ll be practicing positive affirmations in the mirror. [Vice]

The Drinks

So molten chocolate cake is officially out, but that doesn’t mean you can’t ingest chocolate in liquid form. Grab some rum, vanilla beans and cocoa nibs to infuse your own homemade chocolate liqueur. (The process takes about three weeks, though, so if you have a hankering right now consider making a caramel swirl hot chocolate and tipping in a bit of bourbon).